View full sizeLisa Medendorp/Muskegon ChronicleMuskegon County Sheriff's Sgt. Pat Herremans stands next to a Ford Taurus involved in a two-car accident just before 2 a.m. Wednesday on U.S. 31 just south of the Colby Street exit. An extrication tool is shown inside the car. Deputies believe the car was driving the wrong way on the highway before the crash.

By Heather Lynn Peters and Lisa Medendorp | The Muskegon Chronicle

MUSKEGON — Authorities have identified a 29-year-old Ludington woman as one of two people who died in a bizarre double-fatal car crash that happened early Wednesday.

Mindy Elizabeth-Yung Ostling, 29, of 1027 N. Rath, died at the scene of the 2 a.m. accident on U.S. 31 just south of the Colby Street exit, according to Muskegon County Sheriff’s Traffic Services Deputy John Yax.

The fiery crash happened when Ostling was driving a Ford Taurus south in the northbound lanes of U.S. 31 and crashed into a white Ford Focus traveling north on U.S. 31 without headlights, Yax said.

Alcohol is believed to be a factor in the crash, authorities said.

A “half-full” can of beer was found in Ostling’s vehicle, Yax said, but it was not clear whether she was intoxicated at the time of the crash. Results of a toxicology test were pending, he said.

The identity of the other driver was not yet known Wednesday morning. Both bodies were sent to Sparrow Hospital in Lansing for autopsies a few hours after the crash, Yax said.

It was not immediately known whether the driver of the Ford Focus was male or female, he said.

Police say the Ford Focus caught fire upon impact and the driver was pinned inside. The drivers were alone in their cars.

The accident resulted in the highway being shut down for several hours. Muskegon County Sheriff’s deputies were continuing their investigation Wednesday.

Firefighters from White Lake Fire Authority responded to the scene. Officers from Muskegon Township and Michigan State Police troopers assisted in shutting down the highway.